Ben Affleck Says He Did Batman for His Kids: “Worth Every Moment of Suffering on Justice League”

When Ben Affleck was announced to be taking on the role of Batman for the DC Extended Universe, audiences were thrilled about the possibilities for the franchise’s future, only for the actor to part ways from the franchise after two films. Despite both fans and Affleck himself being disappointed with this outcome, he recently noted that the various struggles he faced while bringing Justice League to life were worth it for the joy it brought to his kids. He also noted that he originally joined the project based on plans that filmmaker Zack Snyder had for the character, but that a number of factors prevented those plans from moving forward.

“I did Batman because I wanted to do it for my kids,” Affleck shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “I wanted to do something that my son would dig. I mean, my kids didn’t see Argo.”

He added, “Zack wanted to do a version of the Frank Miller Dark Knight graphic novel series, which is a really good version of that. Unfortunately, there are a lot of reasons why things go the way they do in the movie business, and just because your face is on the poster doesn’t mean that you’re dictating all of those things — and even if you were, that they would go well.”

While Snyder had long been attached to developing the first live-action Justice League project, the adventure started as a two-part storyline, before being trimmed down to one film, and with Snyder ultimately parting ways with the film before production had finished due to a family tragedy. In the more than three years since Justice League landed in theaters, fans are well aware of just how drastically different the theatrically released film was from the story’s original plans.

“I wore the suit to my son’s birthday party, which was worth every moment of suffering on Justice League,” Affleck admitted.

When Snyder left Justice League, Marvel’s The Avengers director Joss Whedon took control, which seemed like a promising prospect. However, when the film hit theaters, audiences noted how Whedon’s reshoots appeared to inject a lot more humor into the picture, resulting in tonal inconsistencies throughout the endeavor, as the humor didn’t fit with Snyder’s more somber filmmaking sensibilities.

Affleck is confirmed to have shot new scenes as Batman for the upcoming HBO Max release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a four-part event that is set to honor the filmmaker’s original plans for the project.

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